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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762968">our paths end here</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillykins/pseuds/Chillykins'>Chillykins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:48:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,586</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillykins/pseuds/Chillykins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kingdom army marches on Enbarr. The time has come for the emperor and her shadow to make their final stands.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edelgard von Hresvelg &amp; Hubert von Vestra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>our paths end here</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>thank you to the ellen the myth the legend (@mismoree on twitter/ao3) for being my beta, and you can find me on twitter @longestyeehaw and tumblr @johnbly</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“In the meantime, I will --” Edelgard starts.</p><p>“Forgive me,” Hubert interrupts, “but I must speak bluntly. I do not agree with what you intend to do. Though slight, there is a chance that once done, it cannot be undone.”</p><p>It isn’t anything that Edelgard hasn’t already thought about and accepted. No price is too large to pay for freeing Fódlan from the Church’s influence. Does she want to be trapped in a form warped by the power of her dual Crests? No. But she doesn’t see another option, and though Hubert spoke against the idea, it had been from a surprisingly personal standpoint, not a tactical one. This is no time for emotions.</p><p>“Even I cannot always choose the direction my path leads me. There is no other way. And so, I must walk on.”</p><p>He can expect no less from her. That presumably doesn’t make him any less inclined to support the idea, apart from his duty to accept it.</p><p>“Very well, Your Majesty,” he says. “In any case, I will do what I can to ensure you do not have to take that risk.”</p><p>“I will as well. Believe me, it is my last resort. Regardless, it would give me the chance to use what those people gave me; otherwise it was all for nothing.”</p><p>“Don’t say that it was all for nothing.” Hubert’s voice is harsh, his gaze sharper than usual.</p><p>Though she’s tried her best over the years to hide her depth of trauma from the Crest experiments, she knows he’s aware the scars run deeper than skin. She remembers his reaction to seeing her for the first time with her white hair, the same desperation and anger she imagines he’d displayed when attempting to chase her down when her uncle had taken her to the Kingdom. No wonder Hubert doesn’t want her to say that it leads to naught.</p><p>“You’re right,” she says. “Even if I don’t have to take this final step, the second Crest has still done much for our cause.”</p><p>“Precisely.” He nods, and then bows, his points delivered. “I have preparations to return to.”</p><p>With that he leaves, both aware of their goal’s precarious position now that Dimitri’s army is growing in strength. How many more of these conversations will they have with each other? The way the battles have played out as of late, it’s impossible to ignore the feeling of a looming countdown. Neither have the luxury of dwelling on that fact even if they want to; all they can do is ensure that countdown ticks closer to the victory of the Empire, rather than its collapse.</p><p>As the Kingdom troops march ever closer to Enbarr, there are more spurts of conversation between the two -- how can there not be, given their roles? -- but no further straying into personal territory. The time comes for Edelgard to send him on ahead, which marks an end one way or the other. Either he returns to deliver her victory, or he falls.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Fighting in Enbarr’s streets will be symbolic, and not in a good way. The hopes of keeping the war out of the capital city had shrunk with every Kingdom victory. Now the army approaches the heart of the Empire; there is hardly any more ground to lose. Any inch that is given will bring the enemy closer to the palace.</p><p>Closer to Edelgard.</p><p>That Hubert can’t allow to happen. None of the remaining army can allow that to happen, not if they want the sacrifices of their fallen comrades to mean anything. He studies his forces. Every face has a grim sort of determination, but that hardly gives him anything to appreciate, as it’s to be expected. He’ll feel better about their odds when they’re at full strength. Until the reinforcements arrive, however, they’ll have to make do.</p><p>Directing the soldiers to take their places at various strategic points is easy. Giving his best approximation of encouraging words is harder. Edelgard is the one who usually inspires the troops, but now it’s fallen on him. As long as he’s inspiring enough to keep them battling until relief arrives, he’ll take it.</p><p>They're the last line of defense before the Imperial Palace. They cannot fall here. Yes, because it would make Edelgard’s job more difficult, but also because otherwise she'll be forced into her transformation. Hubert had promised he'd do everything in his power to keep that from being necessary, so he'll fight. He'll keep the soldiers under his command fighting. They <em> will </em> not fall here.</p><p>It’s fitting, his position at the furthest back point of the Imperial forces. To reach his emperor, they will have to go through him first. It would be preferable that the enemy doesn’t reach this far, but he’s more than ready to receive them if they do. The purple glow of his magic flickers around his gloves.</p><p>With as close as these quarters are for battle, there’s little strategy work on his part as the fight progresses. No Imperial soldier would be so incompetent as to require instructions for every step. When reinforcements begin to arrive, Hubert sends them where they’re most needed. They settle into their routine, leaving him to observe once more. </p><p>To his irritation, Dimitri’s army is pushing forward with relative ease. Each time Hubert’s path crosses theirs, they seem to have grown stronger. Not a surprise, as they’ve come this far, but bothersome all the same. In what seems like little time at all, they’ve managed to stop the Empire’s reinforcements entirely. The magic users, the demonic beasts -- all of them. </p><p>What is increasingly shaping up to be a last stand will come down to him and the remaining soldiers. If they don’t make a dent in the enemy’s numbers, he may fulfill the promise Vestras have made for generations: dying in service of the Hresvelgs. He can think of no worthier end, but he can no longer serve Edelgard in death.</p><p>House Varley has troops on the way, though there’s no way of knowing how far off they are. No, they cannot be leaned on. The remnants of the Empire’s army must fight as if they’re on their own for the rest of the battle. Reinforcements will matter little if those they’re arriving to aid are already dead. As more of his soldiers fall, Hubert readies himself for the inevitable. He will gladly spill the blood of every irritatingly still-living opponents once they reach him, whether by that point only one survives, or all of them.</p><p>It’s a familiar green-haired person that breaks fully into his line of vision before the others. Ah, so it’s the professor he’ll need to strike down first. A worthy opponent. How might this war have gone if they had elected to teach the Black Eagles instead? There’s no denying their skill on the battlefield, and their one-time students appear to have rallied around them like they would...well, an emperor.</p><p>Or how might things have changed if Hubert had decided to dispatch them back at Garreg Mach, back when he could first see them as a potential threat? The moment they’d picked the Blue Lions shut the door forever for them being of any use to the cause.</p><p>There’s little point in entertaining these thoughts now. What’s done is done, and right now, what needs to be done is removing this powerful piece from the board. Oh, Dimitri and the others will be a pain to deal with themselves, but even their strength will be cut when they see their precious professor fall.</p><p>"I should have disposed of you a long time ago,” he says. “I will rectify that failure here!”</p><p>"Stand down, Hubert," the professor counters, holding that Heroes’ Relic of theirs. "This is your only chance. I may not have taught you, but I knew you as a student."</p><p>Hubert gives a low laugh. "If you knew me at all, you wouldn't have bothered wasting your breath with your order."</p><p>He doesn't give them a chance to strike; he knows his defenses against brute force are far weaker than his resistance to magic. With a grunt, he thrusts out an arm, firing his dark magic at them. It lands, but they're strong. They only stumble a step back. As he readies another shot, they swing out with the blade, which stretches out into something like a whip. It slices across him, and his breath catches. His magic requires him to be within that extended range of the blade, something that he’s cursing now.</p><p>Just like he hadn’t waited to toss his first attack, they don’t wait for him to recover. While he’s working to regather his magic, the blade -- solid once again, now that they’ve closed the distance between them -- cuts deep. Automatically, one of his hands goes for the wound. His glove turns red. Ah. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some of that faith magic now, he thinks, as he drops to his knees.</p><p>His last thoughts are for Edelgard’s cause. <em> Their </em> cause. He will gladly accept this death if his emperor succeeds in the end. If their continent’s reliance on the gods is severed, if Those Who Slither in the Dark finally pay for what they’ve done. Whatever strength he once had, he hopes it finds its way to her.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Though Edelgard’s mind is built for strategy, her body is built for action. Standing here, in the throne room, simply waiting for news grates at her nerves. A helplessness builds in her that she hasn’t felt since the days of the experiments, and she forces it down. No matter what is happening on the outside, she is still in control.</p><p>She has to be.</p><p>The tap of footsteps against the marble breaks her attention from the stained glass window she studies. She turns, seeing a soldier approach. He stops a couple of feet away and bows. An unease rises in her gut; if the Empire had achieved victory, would he not be smiling? Decorum aside, it would be difficult to hide such emotions.</p><p>“I come with news from the front lines, Emperor Edelgard,” he says, once he straightens.</p><p>“I suspected as much,” she replies. “How did our troops fare?”</p><p>He hesitates, jaw clenching. “I’m afraid not well, Your Majesty. We suffered a complete defeat, and the Kingdom’s army is marching to the palace as we speak.”</p><p>So. It has come to this, then. A final confrontation between her and Dimitri. There’s something almost poetic to it, with their history. As fitting as it is, she privately mourns the lives lost on the streets of Enbarr. On both sides, though especially her soldiers, as they had fought for their shared goal. The goal she must not fail to achieve now, lest their deaths be in vain.</p><p>“What of Hubert?” she asks simply. She already knows the answer. Hubert will never allow the Kingdom army to come so close to the palace if he still has life.</p><p>“He died along with the rest, Your Majesty,” the soldier says, bowing his head.</p><p>Even hearing the words can’t help the news sink in. Edelgard knows death all too well, but the thought of it finding Hubert, especially when he isn’t at her side…</p><p>“Thank you for your report,” she says. “You may return to your commander.”</p><p>The soldier fully bows and walks off, leaving her alone. And not just in the room. For all the years she’s ached for true solitude to be free of her responsibilities for but a moment, she hates it. Those moments should have come by choice, not by this war taking away one of the few people who could even come close to understanding her. A coolness spreads across her face, and she touches the skin, wondering where the breeze came from.</p><p>To her confusion, her cheeks are wet to the touch. Tears must have slipped out without her realizing. She can’t remember the last time she’d cried. She wipes them away, embarrassed. What would Hubert have said, seeing her like this when there’s still work to be done? Still, her eyes well up again, and this time she notices. Edelgard allows them to fall for just a minute more. Yes, there’s still work to be done, but she cannot proceed pretending that his loss isn’t a terrible blow. To the Empire, though also to her personally.</p><p>She allows herself to grieve for this moment, for her closest advisor, her oldest companion. Her friend. Lifting her gaze to the throne, she can’t see how she can grow used to not having him lurking behind it. That is, of course, providing the throne is still hers by the end of this war. She has no intention of losing, but there’s no denying the odds are stacked against her. There’s no way of knowing if her transformation will balance the scales.</p><p>At least Hubert isn’t here to see what he’d spoken against. He doesn’t have to see the extent of the atrocities Those Who Slither in the Dark have done to her. Doesn’t have to see her become the monster she must in order to give her dream a chance. And if there’s no reversing it, he won’t have to accept it.</p><p>“I will not let you down,” Edelgard says, her voice filling the space despite its quietness.</p><p>She doesn’t know if she’s speaking to Hubert or the soldiers that fell with him, or the Adrestian Empire as a whole. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that she keeps her word. Locking her mournful emotions in the same box she keeps her grief for her siblings, she steels herself for the process ahead. It’s time to consult with the general who can walk her through fully harnessing both her crests.</p><p>And here she is, not long after, turning into a creature befitting the experiments done to her. Fighting Dimitri and his army, watching as more of her people fall around her. Finding out that her transformation can be reversed -- if only Hubert can see it’s all fine -- when she’s too far weakened. This is how it ends, then. All the deaths for the war she had begun to free the world from the Church, and the cycle will just go on as is.</p><p>As much as she hates the thought, Edelgard knows when she’s been bested. Dimitri has the power to end the conflict here and now. While she lives, so does her cause; once she dies, the majority of the people who back her will surrender. The young man she had once thought of as a friend must know the stakes as well as she does, but he still holds out a hand, calling her by her childhood nickname, as if offering her mercy.</p><p>Of course he is.</p><p>He’s a man of action, not words, so there is only one way for him to see the path forward. Keeping her gaze fixed on his face, she reaches below her cloak. Her hand grips the dagger he’d given her all those years ago. The blade flashes in the light from the windows. The professor gasps and readies her sword as Dimitri tightens his hold on his lance. It ends in a second, Edelgard throwing the dagger into his shoulder, forcing him to run her through.</p><p>Her last thoughts are a hope for humanity to find a way to break away from gods...and the chance of seeing her siblings once again. The latter lessens the blow of losing her cause so close to grasping it.</p>
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